you are looxiking live at t conditions in ocean city, maryland. high winds and heavy rain are already slamming the beaches. this is just the beginning of a very long day as hurricane sandy prepares to wreak havoc on our area all the way up to new od morning to you. i'm eun yang. >> and i'm aaron gilchrist. welcome back to "news 4 today" on this monday, october 29th. much of the region shutting down this morning as sandy moves

closer. that includes the federal government. all nonessential employees should stay home today. >> most local governments are closed in maryland, virginia, and the district. metro train and bus service is shut down for the first time since 2003. marc and vre also closed. >> amtrak service in the northeast corridor not happening today either. most students in our area also, obviously, getting the day off of school. all major public school systems in d.c., maryland, and virginia are closed this morning along with most private schools in the area. >> and you can find a complete list of school and business closings scrolling on the bottom of your screen. and live on nbcwashington.com. >> good morning. sandy's first heavy rains are now coming into our region. they've had heavy downpours all night right along the atlantic seaboard and the eastern sho. they have wind gusts from 40 to 45 miles an hour now. the heaviest rains are now getting closer to washington. in fact, the areas you see here they are getting some moderate rain now in the yellow zone. here is the intensity scale. anges and reds, that's heavy rain, and the really heavy rain band is just about to come into st. mary's county. they're getting moderate to heavy rain there and generally light to moderate rain in calvert and anne arundel, prince george's, and now we're beginning to see moderate rain showing up in washington, montgomery county, eastern fairfax county. points west, just a little light rain, getting snow out of the mountains of southern west virginia. all of these counties in lavender are under a blizzard warning, of all things, up to a foot of heavy wet snow there.

that blizzard warning in effect all the way through wednesday morning. here's the latest with sandy. it is beginning to take a turn to the north. it the been traveling northeast the last 36 hours or so. now it's taking a turn to the north. and the next track for sandy is taking it now northwest throughout the rest of the day today, and sandy is going to continue to track northwest and then come ashore this evening. it does look like right now the approach right along between just assoteague through sandy hook, new jersey, it can come ashore. it will make landfall by morning. five to ten inches of rain as well as gusts to 70 miles an hour this afternoon into this evening. and that would likely cause power outages as well. again, the strongest winds will be from beginning locally, late

afternoon and into tomorrow morning. that's when we'll have the power outages. i'm back in ten minutes. danella here now with a look at traffic. good morning. >> good morning. thanks, tom. checking first 4 traffic. checking cameras in the area, accident free, that's good. a lot of people staying off the roadway. a live look as you make your way 5 northbound passing through both directions north and southbou southbound. a look at montgomery county, 29 at randolph road. a lot of people staying in, that's good news. let's head over to i-66. 66 as well as i-95, not seeing any accidents. again, increment weather starting to come down. if you have to leave the house, use caution. aaron and eun, back over to you. we've been showing you pictures from ocean city, maryland. coastal communities are starting to feel the full force of sandy as it moves closer to shore. >> many residents have evacua

evacuated, but unfortunately, it's only going to get worse there. news 4 is live in rehoboth with conditions there. >> reporter: winds are gusting to 40 miles per hour in rehob h rehoboth, in ocean city, 40 miles per hour. with the wind, it's just pushing further and further athis way. we're expecting high tide at 7:55. you can see the waves pushing behind me. we spoke to the governor that says that seven shelters are open across the state, three alone in the area of rehoboth. people need to take this into consideration. if you plan on leaving, you need to do so as soon as possible because you will be putting the lives of emergency responders at jeopardy if you decide to stay. back to you. >> our thanks to erica gonzalez there. president obama is urging everyone in sandy's path to prepare for the worst.

>> this is a serious and big storm. my first message is to all people across the eastern seaboard, the atlantic, going north, you need to take this very seriously and follow the instructions of your state and local officials because they are going to be providing you with the best advice in terms of how to deal with this storm over the coming days. >> the president issued that warning while touring fema headquarters here in the district. he also signed a state of emergency declaration for d.c., which mayor gray had requested. that will free up federal aid to help the city respond to sandy. santdy is impacting the election l sas well, which is j eight days away. president obama has cancelled campaign events in virginia and ohio to monitor the situation. mitt romney scrapped plans as well. instead, he joined running mate paul ryan in ohio. he made sure supporters knew

sandy was still on his mind. >> and it's a time of celebration for us. it's a time of importance and significance. i know that right now some people in the country are concerned about a storm about to hit the coast, and our thoughts and prayers are with people who will find themselves in harm's way. >> romney is scheduled to many campaign again today in ohio. and he'll stop in iowa and wisconsin. >> it's forced governor o'malley to cancel early voting in maryland. voting was supposed to run through thursday. governor o'malley says he hopes he can extend that through friday to make up for today. people in d.c. are gearing up for sandy's impact. >> that includes neighborhoods prone to power outages and flooding. news 4's megan mcgrath is live in the bloomingdale section of the city with more on that. what are they doing this time around?

>> reporter: you're right. they've had a horrible time in the bloomingdale neighborhood with flooding, and we're talking normal storms, not anything like what we're expecting with sandy. they are taking precautions. they are very nervous about what's going to come with the storm. this is the window cafe. they have the sand bags up, took the patio furniture, put it in this alcove. more sand bags around the corner at the front door. the hope being, if the water does indeed rise, as they've seen so many other times before, that the sandbags and some of the precautions they've taken will prevent the water from going inside the business. public works has been out of this neighborhood all weekend long. they've been making sure the storm drains are clear, getting up the leaves to make sure we don't have any block ge agebloc. we have light rain. just a trickle right now. we are expecting very heavy rain to enter our area in the next couple of hours or so.

people are going to be keeping a close eye on the storm drains and potentially the rising water level in this neighborhood. there are other flood prone neighborhoods in this area. take a look at this video we shot earlier this morning. in the georgetown area, along the potomac. washington harbor, they have their flood gates up. they are ready, doing what they can. the embassy located next door, they have put up their flood gates. folks that are in these areas prone to flooding, they know the storm is coming. they are taking precautions and doing everything they can at this point to avoid a lot of damage with the storm. while they've done what they can, there's only so much that can be done. the rest is up to sandy. reporting live in northwest, megan mcgrath, news 4. back to you. it is 4:38 now. storm conditions moving into new england as we speak. just ahead, a look at how quickly things are going downhill on the northeast coast. ahead, the strange phenomenon our crews found

indoors. [ earnest ] out of the blue one day,

we were told to build a 30-foot stage. gathered the guys and we built that 30-foot stage, not knowing what it was for. just days later, all three shifts were told to assemble in the warehouse. a group of people walked out on that stage and told us that the plant is now closed

and all of you are fired... i looked both ways, i looked at the crowd, and...we all just lost our jobs. we don't have an income. mitt romney made over 100 million dollars by shutting down our plant and devastated our lives. turns out that when we built that stage, it was like building my own coffin, and it just made me sick. [ male announcer ] priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. welcome back to our team coverage of hurricane sandy. it is now 4:41. this is a live look at rehoboth beach where you can see the wind gusts and the surf kicking up

there. wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour. erica gonzalez is live there. we'll check with her in the next hour. this is the image that's becoming more and more frequent. we're seeing it more and more as the storm gets closer to us and starts to work its way up the coastline. tom kierein, of course, is johe with us. and, tom, hurricane sandy starting to turn, as you predict. >> it's starting to make a turn to the north and west and come closer to us. here's the latest track. category 1 hurricane with winds of 70 miles an hour. it will be post-tropical before it makes landfall, but it will be a very powerful hour of low pressure. 8:00 p.m. this evening. 80-mile-per-hour winds. still packing 70-mile-per-hour winds after it comes inland after midnight tonight and into tomorrow morning. it's going to be tracking just probably to our north. but the big story now is they're getting heavy, heavy rains now on the eastern shore and around the bay. the heavier rains now getting

closer to washington, getting moderate to heavy rains prince george's counties, points east and south. points west, just a little light rain right now. the heavier rain coming your way. blizzard warning for western maryland, much of eastern west virginia. 6 to 12 inches of snow later today into tonight and tomorrow. 5 to 10 inches of rain throughout much of the region. the flood watch in effect today and tomorrow. in addition, gusts to 70 miles an hour. that's going to be the big story. this high wind warning from this morning all the way to tuesday evening. that will likely cause power outage. hour by hour today, increasing downpours and increasing wind. temperatures remaining in the 50s. i'm back with the seven-day outlook. now a look at traffic with danella. good morning. >> good morning, tom. checking the roadways in our area, not seeing any reports of accidents. so far, that's good. a lot of people staying off of the roadway. i want to show you a look at i-270 in the clarksburg area. rain is coming down.

if you have to leave the house, please use caution. connecting from i-270 to the beltway, travel lanes are open. nice look at the beltway in montgomery county and prince george's county as well as you move over to virginia, nice and clear. again, 395 very light volume. the rain is starting to come down. so please use caution. aaron and eun, back over to you. >> danella, thanks so much. coming up, the dangers of flash flooding. >> a state trooper learns just how fast waters can rise in conditions like these. president obama: there's just no quit in america...

and you're seeing that right now. over five million new jobs. exports up forty one percent. home values... rising. our auto industry... back. and our heroes are coming home. we're not there yet, but we've made real progress and the... last thing we should do is turn back now. here's my plan for the next four years: making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom; boosting american-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where... we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. and ending the war in afghanistan, so we can... do some nation-building here at home. that's the right path. so read my plan, compare it to governor romney's... and decide which is better for you.

it's an honor to be your president... and i'm asking for your vote... so together, we can keep moving america forward. i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

13 before the top of the hour. as we track sandy, you are looking live at storm team 4 radar. you can see the first outer bands of the storm starting to hit the coast of virginia, north carolina, maryland, the d.c. area as well starting to see some of the first rain from this storm, which will get much heavier as the hours pass. >> it doesn't matter exactly where sandy hits because we are going to feel the impact of this storm. this is a live look at rehoboth beach, where you can see the winds gusting 45 miles per hour. the residents bracing for what could be worst of this storm on the east coast communities. and the death toll is rising in the caribbean days after sandy ripped across several island nations. 65 people now dead because of this storm. 51 of those deaths are in haiti

because of the damage caused by sandy. that country particularly vulnerable adds more than 350,000 people are still living in emergency shelters from the 2010 earthquake that hit there. deaths reported as well in cuba, jamaica, puerto rico, and the bahamas. one of the shoreline cities expected to feel the impact today is fairfield, connecticut. liz, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you guys from a very windy fairfield, connecticut. i want to show you what's going on right now. we've got lots of wind gusts. it's powerful when it comes through here. take a look at the branches and the brush that's really blowing in the wind right now. kind of dying down. just this minute, but when it gusts, it really does blow. take a look at the water here. it is starting to chop up. the biggest concern -- here comes that wind again. the biggest concern is going to be the flooding here in fairfield county.

so far, 5,500 people have been asked to evacuate because flooding with the storm surge from sandy. throughout the afternoon and into today, there's going to be more concerns for flooding. as a result, town officials have opened up the local high school for shelter for anyone who needs it. we're live in fairfield, connecticut. i'm liz dallem, let's send things back to you guys. flooding is already an issue in our region. take a look at these photos. a delaware state trooper ran right into the high water and had to abandon his cruiser just north of the indian river inlet. route 1 is the main route along the delaware shore. it's closed between dewey and bethany beaches. just a warning.

do not drive through that water. this is rhode island. the storm creating high surf there. you can see daring kite surfers took advantage of huge waves there yesterday. the governor already declaring a disaster emergency in rhode island. mandatory evacuations for a lot of beach communities started last night and will continue into the morning. >> people along the coast aren't just feeling the effects of sandy in their homes. making ways inside buildings as well. our own wendy rieger reporting from rehoboth beach. >> this is the part of the bathroom, and we thought it was because of a wind tunnel we create, but we closed all the doors. this is like the exorcist here. we're on the second floor. there are three other floors above us. so it's not like -- oh, my god. it's not like this is the roof.

so there you go. sandy has arrived in the bathroom of our hotel room. now, how do we get her out of here? >> i would be scared. >> i'm not sure if she was scared or just fascinated. >> or both. and clearly, she's not getting any sleep. with that kind going on. >> have to check and see how they're doing with that situation now. >> 4:51. time for weather and traffic on the ones. >> we want to talk about more of what's happening with sandy. take a look outside as we look at what's happening with the drik. this say live look from our city camera overlooking reagan national airport. there are no flights. i shouldn't say no. really it's dead at this hour, a lot of cancelled flights. partly because of the wind in this area and as we pointed out, the light rain that's already falling right now. >> check in with storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein for the latest on sandy's track. it's a huge hurricane, and

it's now taking a trend, tracking to the north now as it's been predicted to do. and later today, it's going to continue a track off to the west/northwest and come ashore. it does look like anywhere from south of ocean city and all the way up till you get up around northern new jersey. so it can come ashore anywhere in this zone. it will make landfall anywhere from northern new jersey down to south of ocean city. and the timing of this, coming ashore perhaps around 10:00, midnight tonight. ahead of that, we've got a lot of rain. torrents of rain on the eastern shore. all these areas of orange and red, heavy, heavy rain. meanwhile, we're getting some snow out here in southern west virginia and southwestern virginia. some of the high spots getting wet snow now. closer to washington, light to moderate rain. eastern suburbs, prince george's county as well as up into

eastern howard county, anne arundel. northern neck and st. mary's county. farther west, northern montgomery county, much of western fairfax, loudoun, fauquier, rappahannock as well as stafford, prince william, down into fredericksburg. throughout the day, we'll get heavy rain bands. and yes some snows will be continuing out of the mountains. and then tomorrow as we start off in the morning, cannot rule out even a few wet snowflakes. our western and northern suburbs as cold air gets drawn into that system. it's going to continue snowing out of the mountains all the way into wednesday is the way it looks right now. sandy's potential winds as of 8:00 p.m. monday, look at this. we could have winds as high as-on-to 65 miles an hour. maybe isolated gusts on 70 all the way to 11:00. at 11:00, we're still continuing with high winds, over 60 mile an

hour wind gusts. by 3:00 a.m., 50 mile an hour gusts. by 7:00 p.m. tuesday, winds have gradually diminish from 30 to 40 miles an hour. by tuesday evening, much of the wind is gone. hour by hour. steady rain this morning. heavier rain during the afternoon. winds picking up, holding steady in the 50s. this evening, we'll have the strongest winds and heaviest rains back down to near 50 at midnight. and a chilly start in the morning, maybe a few snowflakes. storm team 4 seven day outlook thampgful thankfully getting sun back thursday, friday, and saturday morning. what's most amazing is a blizzard warning. kim martucci has the details. >> i can't believe this. actually, we can. this has happened from time to time. it happened last year. a blizzard warning out here. elevations about 2,500 feet especially, you are going to see

6 to 12 inches. and the wind is going to be so severe there could be white out conditions there, not a good time for traveling. same for here in our suburbs because we have a flood watch in effect that goes until tuesday night. five it ten inches of rain. heavier amounts north and east. for frederick county, for the monocacy river, a flood warning has been issued. we're expecting the river to go above flood stage, 22.7 feet. we have this high wind warning taking us through tuesday night. we talked about this. tom was showing you the computer mode models. the gusts going to 70 miles an hour. that's what we're going to be watching, danella. i suspect traffic is going to be a nightmare after the storm with all the trees that we are expecting to fall down from these wind gusts. good morning. >> good morning. thank you, kim. heading eastbound i-66 at 28 have a disabled tractor-trailer

there. you can see it's here in your right shoulder lane. a couple of trucks pulled over to stop by. it appeared they were blocking the ramp. again, it was a disabled in the shoulder lane. it looks like the ramp may be blocked now. i'll give you an update shortly. aaron and eun, back over to you. 4:56 now. we are learning more information about an amber alert in prince george's county. this morning a woman faces charges accused of falsely reporting her car was stolen with three young children inside, triggering that amber alert. overnight, prince george's county cancelled the amber alert for those children. we believe the woman told the police the children were in the car to get a faster police response. redskins fans may want to forget about yesterday's game against the steelers. >> roethlisberger throwing, touchdown. to will johnson, the fullback. >> that is an awful uniform.

look at those clothes. >> they look like bumblebees. >> pittsburgh routed the redskins 27-12. robert griffin iii had one of the worst games of his career. one touchdown and threw for 177 yards. didn't throw any interceptions, though. the redskins take on the carolina panthers next sunday. >> looks like the worst game of the season for the redskins. the giants celebrating a world series victory this morning. the giants completed a sweep of the detroit lions with a 4-3 win. they were down by two runs in the sixth inning but came back to force a tenth inning. thousands of giants fans poured into the streets of san francisco to celebrate the win. this was the scene overnight in the city's mission district, where somebody lit a bonfire in the middle of the street. police say other than that, there were not any other major problems or arrests.

>> you got to find better ways to celebrate. just starting fires is never a good way. >> but two world series in three years. you've got to spread the wealth around. >> stay with us. "news 4 today" continues right now at 5:00 a.m. part hurricane, part nor'easter, and all trouble. sandy rolls her way through the region. the brand new forecast track and how people are preparing straight ahead. >> this is a live look at ocean city, maryland. the wind and the rain already battering the beaches. the big fear there today, the storm surge and the eye of the storm is still a fair distance away. good morning, everyone. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" for this monday, october 29th, 2012. hurricane sandy is bringing the

nap nation's capital to a stand still. >> the federal government is closed. most major local governments closed in maryland, virginia, and d.c. today. >> it may also be hard to get arou around. metro, train, and bus service is shut down for the first time since 2003. marc and vre also closed, and amtrak service in the northeast corridor is shut down today as well. >> a day off for students in our area. all major public school systems in d.c., maryland, and virginia are closed along with most private schools in the area. you can find a complete list of school and business closings at the bottom of your screen and live on nbcwashington.com. let's take a look at the storm team 4 radar, where you can see the path of hurricane sandy as it moves along the east coast. this is hitting the entire east coast with what could be big problems with damage and power